Welcome to the Raging Swan Press blog. Herein you’ll find resource and advice articles to make your game better. From time to time, we’ll also post exciting Raging Swan Press news!
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It’s no secret that at Raging Swan Press, we are big fans of dressed dungeons. A dressed dungeon feels more real than an undressed dungeon. A dressed dungeon engages your players’ imaginations, promotes creative play and helps them immerse themselves in the adventure.
It’s always the perfect time to game, and we hope you can find something below that will help you have more fun with your friends!
Small roadside shrines appear in many towns and cities. They venerate important saints, local deities, or gods without a formal church in the area and are often tended by a small group of dedicated lay worshippers.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
One or more stables can be found in any settlement of note—and many of those without note.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.
At Raging Swan Press, we believe that games set in a richly detailed, immersive world are better than games that are not. It should come as no surprise that we are huge fans of dungeon dressing, but what exactly is dungeon dressing, and why do we keep going on about it?
With Citadel on the Wilderlands now out in the world, our attention turns to the Late 2024 edition of Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands and the Player's Guide to Citadel on the Wilderlands!
Citadel on the Wilderlands is a flavour-rich 5e mini-campaign setting designed for low-level characters intent on wilderness exploration and dungeon delving. Designed to be easy to prepare and easy to run, Citadel on the Wilderlands is perfect for GMs who don’t have unending time to prep for the next session.
Citadel on the Wilderlands is a flavour-rich 5e mini-campaign setting designed for low-level characters intent on wilderness exploration and dungeon delving. Designed to be easy to prepare and easy to run, Citadel on the Wilderlands is perfect for GMs who don’t have unending time to prep for the next session.
Hidden deep in the hills, Deszraul’s Hold has a sinister reputation. The medusa Dezraul claims the caves and evidence of her fell powers—a bewildering array of uncannily lifelike stone statues—stand about her gloomy domain. All that remains of adventurers daring to face the cave’s snake-headed mistress, the statues are a salutary warning on the dangers of facing a medusa in her lair. But does Deszraul still lair within? Has a band of savage, merciless bandits fallen under her sway?
Read MoreThe aboleth…impossibly ancient and impossibly evil. These masters of the deep are the implacable foe of many adventurers. One of their most dangerous and insidious powers is the ability to dominate almost anyone unfortunate enough to encounter them. Using such powers, they set friend against friend, unleashing betrayal from among their enemies’ midst. Thus has been spelt the doom of many adventuring parties.
Read MoreSadly for adventurers (violent, painful) death is a part of life. Of course, death isn’t the end of the adventure! A powerful—or rich—character probably has the wealth or the friends to return them to life. In game, this is often handled quickly and easily. At worst, the character might lose some experience points or perhaps a level. Sometimes, there is literally no penalty for dying (except embarrassment or the loss of thousands of gold pieces).
Read MoreOften overlooked as a stupid brute the cunning otyugh is nevertheless a peerless hunter in its noisome lair. Use these tables, to add depth and favour to an otyugh’s lair.
Read MoreIt often seems skeletons end up as nothing more than generic, bland enemies. That’s a shame as their appearance and accoutrements could provide clues as to their fate and inject more flavour and detail into an otherwise standard combat encounter.
Read MoreGiant lumbering savages, ogres are ferocious and dangerous opponents for neophyte adventurers. Violent and cruel they are capable of unimaginable savagery and depravity. Large groups can also pose a significant danger to more powerful and experienced adventuring parties, making ogres the perfect foes for a low- to mid-level campaign. Use these ogres, to inject some flavour and character into your adventures.
Read MoreEvil is everywhere and humanity must be ever vigilant against its slow encroachment into all that is great and good. Small cults—dedicated to ancient, blasphemous powers—lurk throughout the world ready to carry out their dark patron’s bidding. One such small cult dedicated to Braal, god of hate, malice and revenge, dwells in the Shadow Fane below Languard’s High City. The cultists kidnap and murder in their dark god’s name, but recently they made a mistake that threatens their very existence. Instead of kidnaping a beggar the cultists accidentally kidnapped the daughter of a wealthy merchant and he is offering a handsome reward for his daughter’s safe return.
Read MoreAltars dedicated to dark, forbidden powers are a staple of many fantasy dungeons. Here, evil high priests officiate over bloody, blasphemous services or cultists gather to worship their terrible patron. Such places are thus often an excellent place to find and slay said evil-doers or to recover their hidden treasures. A few such locales have even established a tenuous link with the deity itself and strange, odd effects occur in their immediate vicinity.
Read MoreSometimes ice-spitting or fire-breathing but always head- regenerating nightmares of bedtime stories and epic quests, the hydra is a challenge for any company of heroes. Use these lists, to add depth and flavour to the hydra dens in your campaign.
Read MoreThe squat, reptilian basilisk has the terrifying ability to transform its prey into stone before shattering the statues into edible chunks to feast upon. Use these lists, to add depth and flavour to the basilisk’s dens in your campaign.
Read MoreIdyll seems like the perfect place to live, but subtle signs something is not right are scattered throughout the village. Why are the residents reluctant to leave the village’s precincts? Why are there so few children in such a prosperous place? How has the village stayed unspoiled with the wasteland surrounding it? Why is the seemingly empty Wardens’ Lodge that once served as the centre of law for Idyll so ominous? Those who investigate Idyll’s mystery too deeply may discover plane-shattering secrets. Whether the curious can capitalise on these secrets is yet another question.
Read MoreOne of the most commonly encountered forms of undead, ghouls—and their more powerful brethren, ghasts—are rightly feared by adventurers for their paralysing touch and disease-ridden fangs.However, it often seems ghouls end up as nothing more than generic, bland enemies. That’s a shame as their appearance and accoutrements could provide clues as to their fate and inject more flavour and detail into an otherwise standard combat encounter.
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Far below the sunlit surface lie places and things undreamt of by decent commonfolk. Some such things have never seen the light of day, while others have escaped into the Underlands to escape the hated sun.
A free GM’s Resource for any fantasy roleplaying game.